Overview
The Master of Music Education builds upon the field experience of current teachers and educational professionals, transforming teachers who love music into music education specialists. This degree melds rigorous academic standards with practical classroom skills that translate into innovative K-12 programs in both private and public school settings. Equipping educators with the adaptability and commitment needed for the classroom, program requirements include core academic and music courses, and specializiation in either choral or instrumental conducting.
Benefits and Distinctives
- Broad core of classes that address issues relevant to both instrumental and choral music education
- Freedom to integrate faith into music education
- Research methods, musicology, style analysis, pedagogy, and the philosophical, psychological, social, and historical foundations of music education
- Specialized classes focused on the student's choice of instrumental or choral emphasis
- In-depth courses on arranging, choral conducting, and choral pedagogy for those with a choral emphasis
- In-depth courses on orchestration, instrumental conducting, and instrumental pedagogy for those with an instrumental emphasis
- Directed research culminating in a thesis (required for completion of the degree)
Learn more about the program and our faculty.
School of Music Accreditation
A degree from Azusa Pacific University is respected and recognized internationally. The university is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
University Reputation
Azusa Pacific University held its place for the second year in the most prestigious category of the U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2009, ranking in the third tier of the national category. Additionally, for the first time, APU ranked ninth among the best up-and-coming national universities. Previously, APU was ranked in the top 25 schools within the Western Universities-Master’s category, enjoying prominent placement and recognition for outstanding first-year and service-learning programs.
According to Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine, APU ranked number 6 in the nation in awarding the most master’s degrees to Hispanics. In addition, The Princeton Review included APU as 1 of 120 colleges in the 2009 Best in the West category.
